"Downsized": anyone watch this show???

[crisi]

Why? Americans have access to free or a sliding scale healthcare, foodstamps, free housing, at least 2 meal a day for kids in school, also family planning clinics for birth control, and there are min. wage jobs in almost all towns. Why do people think they have a right to bring a child into this world if they can not support themselves 100%. I am not talking abortion. Also I am not talking about people that lost there jobs.

They are entitled to it, but you need to be able to work the system - in a lot of places - GET to the system - in order to receive benefits. There are parts of the country where that is difficult to do - I'm not at all surprised that the Mississippi Delta is one of them. Or the social worker needs to find you (which is how it works frequently) - but with state budgets thin, my guess is that the social workers aren't spending too much time marching through the Everglades, the Bayou, the Smokey Mountains and the Black Hills looking for America's rural poor to make sure they are getting food and medical care.

Also, some people are too proud or don't trust the government enough to take the handout.

 

[bettymae1121]

They are entitled to it, but you need to be able to work the system - in a lot of places - GET to the system - in order to receive benefits. There are parts of the country where that is difficult to do - I'm not at all surprised that the Mississippi Delta is one of them. Or the social worker needs to find you (which is how it works frequently) - but with state budgets thin, my guess is that the social workers aren't spending too much time marching through the Everglades, the Bayou, the Smokey Mountains and the Black Hills looking for America's rural poor to make sure they are getting food and medical care.

Also, some people are too proud or don't trust the government enough to take the handout.

The part that I bolded is a huge reason why people in some rual areas choose not to get available services. Number one is the "we'll take care of our own, we don't need outsiders" attitude, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but in these areas, it's taken to extremes. And mistrust of government, especially the Federal goverment, can not be under estimated. My DH is only two generations removed from "hill folk", he's seen it first hand in his home town. I've been to the town he grew up in. The town itself is a decent size, but there is zero public transportation and everything is very spred out. If you don't have a car, you aren't going anywhere. Even if you over came generations of stubborn pride and mistrust, it can be extremely hard to physically go out and get the help.

Probably the only type of saftey net for these pepole are the churches, but when the whole congregation is poor as, well, church mice, then the churches don't have the resources either.

 

[Colleen27]

Why? Americans have access to free or a sliding scale healthcare, foodstamps, free housing, at least 2 meal a day for kids in school, also family planning clinics for birth control, and there are min. wage jobs in almost all towns. Why do people think they have a right to bring a child into this world if they can not support themselves 100%. I am not talking abortion. Also I am not talking about people that lost there jobs.

That's the common perception, but it isn't reality in much of rural America. For someone in my town to apply for assistance, they have to have transportation to the county seat, 35 miles away. Same goes for access to the nearest family planning clinic or sliding-scale medical facility. In an area with no public transportation, that's a real obstacle. Housing assistance has a 2.5 year waiting list in my county because there are so relatively few participating units.

And we're not really in the middle of nowhere, just the rural fringe of a major metro area; go farther north and you'll find counties that have combined services to accommodate shrinking budgets and people who have even longer distances between them and any of the services you mention.

 

[NotUrsula]

Why? Americans have access to free or a sliding scale healthcare, foodstamps, free housing, at least 2 meal a day for kids in school, also family planning clinics for birth control, and there are min. wage jobs in almost all towns. Why do people think they have a right to bring a child into this world if they can not support themselves 100%. I am not talking abortion. Also I am not talking about people that lost there jobs.

The primary problem is transportation; in most cases the nearest clinic (which will normally have very limited hours) is over an an hour's drive over very rough back roads, and there is no public transit unless a social worker has the time and resources to take pity on you, which doesn't happen often. Since they can't reliably get to the clinic, they don't have reliable birth control, either. Lots of these babies are born at home, and many are premature and don't make it. (Ambulance service in this area is largely run by membership co-ops; if you haven't paid your membership you would be looking at a really serious bill that you couldn't pay, and besides that, there is often no phone to call one.)

It's also a long haul to the nearest supermarket, and lots of folks don't have a working fridge and/or stove. It's not uncommon for people in the Delta to exist on a strange combination of junk food and wild food (mostly blackberries, pecans, turnip greens, crawfish and frog legs, with duck on a good day, if someone has enough ammo to shoot one.) Some people try to keep chickens, but that can be hard because they are so likely to get stolen. Diabetes and asthma are absolutely rampant around there, and so is sickle cell.

There is no subsidized housing in the rural parts of the Delta, unless you count the occasional old mobile home that gets given away. (That happened after Katrina, and then they mostly got taken back because of the formaldehyde outgassing from them.)

The dropout rate in the Delta is very high, and a lot of these babies are being born to young teen Moms. There really are no jobs around to speak of for women, especially if you don't have a vehicle at your disposal. The men mostly work on the farms or on road projects, but modern cotton and soybean farming doesn't use much manual labor, so unemployment is very high, too, except around Tunica where the casino tourism provides for a bit more prosperity.

 

[MrsPete]

My son was taught to mend, cook and do laundry in Home Ec. He'll be taught budgeting next year. It isn't a change to the curriculum for the economic times - they've taught this for years - its evolved - they don't call it "home ec" any more - its "Family and Consumer Sciences."

My Girl Scouts have sewn door cozies and purses as part of the Girl Scout "eco" curriculum (door cozies under saving energy, purses for recycle/reuse). When they take a camping trip now, they need to plan their own menus, make a grocery list and budget for food. Then they need to cook it (they are fifth graders - I don't cook for them at Girl Scouts any longer). And they need to clean their cabin at camp. All those things remain in Girl Scouts from my youth - although we didn't sew as part of a "recycle/reuse" lesson.

And our church doesn't do missions. We do teach - as a tenet of our faith - to treat others with respect - that's manners.

I think these opportunities have always been there - for people who choose to pursue them. More people have chosen not to pursue them - some of that is adults assuming a kid doesn't need to learn to mend, sometimes its an adult choosing to believe mission work is more appropriate for a six year old than learning to get along, some of it is the kid opting out of learning to do it. My baby sister and I took the same home ec course from the same teacher and made the same pillow - six years apart. Yet somehow she was never "taught" to use a sewing machine - and I was (and the middle sister quilts). Don't know how she managed to make that pillow. And not everyone in the past got them either - my mother - who is 65 - is a lousy cook and not a great seamstress. (She can clean, but she learned to do that as an adult, she also gardens really well). Her sister is worse.

Sure, these opportunities aren't completely gone, but I do think FEWER are available than were in the past, AND I agree with you that people are not pursuing those that're provided. It's just not considered important as it was in the past.

I'm thinking about my daughter's friend who came to school with a button missing from her uniform shirt. She said her mom was making her wear it that way 'til they could go visit her grandmother, who knows how to sew on buttons.

I'm thinking about my cousin and his wife, who eat fast food when they have money and eat nothing when they don't have money. Cooking doesn't occur to them.

I was surprised that the kids (at least one of them who is NOT working age) had a cell phone. Wouldn't that be one of the first things to go?

As a high school teacher, I'll assure you of this: While what you say is logical, the AVERAGE teenager will let go of a whole lot of things before he'll let go of his cell phone. Cell phones are the ultimate status symbol among teens. They're way more important than ipods. Way more important than clothes. They even trump cars.

They are entitled to it, but you need to be able to work the system - in a lot of places - GET to the system - in order to receive benefits.

A friend of mine is a specialty nurse in a big public hospital. A couple times a month, they pack up their stuff and travel up to the mountains to the people who are somewhat "without". People can come get medical care on that bus. Is it as good as being able to get into your car and drive to your private doctor? Of course not, but it's also not going completely without. In addition, lots of free transportation is available around here for the poor and elderly.

Some of these things are federally mandated programs.
And we have plenty of watchdog groups who love to find the government slipping up in any way.

 

[eliza61]

Why? Americans have access to free or a sliding scale healthcare, foodstamps, free housing, at least 2 meal a day for kids in school, also family planning clinics for birth control, and there are min. wage jobs in almost all towns. Why do people think they have a right to bring a child into this world if they can not support themselves 100%. I am not talking abortion. Also I am not talking about people that lost there jobs.

uhm Tina, have you seen any of these thing you say Americans have access too? LOL. Sweetie, I lived in public housing in the Bronx and it's one step up from any proverty shack in a India. NO heat, no hot water, rats the size of small horses, no windows. Have you seen this supposedly "free healthcare" and sorry if you're public school does not offer lunch, then you could be eligable until the cows come home, you can't get what is not there.

Generally I find that people who so blithely throw around what great "services" are availble to the poor have never ever had to try and get those services. It is estimated that ~10 million kids in this country go hungry, not starving correct but a large number of kids go to bed with nothing to eat.

Here is an excellent series done by some people I work with about the hunger problem in Philadelphia. This was in 2010.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/104415168.html

A small excerpt


The monthly average food stampbenefit in Pennsylvania is just $258 per household, said Blanchette.

Often, that's not enough to feed a family for 30 days, according to research by the Boston Medical Center and the Drexel University School of Public Health. The 2008 study revealed that a Philadelphia family of four receiving maximum food-stamp benefits would still require an additional $3,165 annually to buy the amount of food that the federal government deems adequate.

The result: Families often run out of food stamps 21 days into the month.

As of June, 416,587 Philadelphians were getting food stamps, up from 329,903 in December 2007, when the recession began, Coalition figures show.

Getting and keeping food stamps pose another set of hurdles, advocates say.People must navigate detailed application procedures, then face difficulties maintaining their eligibility.

An investigation by the Coalition last year revealed that 62 percent of phone calls to a North Philadelphia service center went unanswered because there weren't enough statecaseworkers to manage food-stamp clients.

 

[eliza61]

They are entitled to it, but you need to be able to work the system - in a lot of places - GET to the system - in order to receive benefits. There are parts of the country where that is difficult to do - I'm not at all surprised that the Mississippi Delta is one of them. Or the social worker needs to find you (which is how it works frequently) - but with state budgets thin, my guess is that the social workers aren't spending too much time marching through the Everglades, the Bayou, the Smokey Mountains and the Black Hills looking for America's rural poor to make sure they are getting food and medical care.

Also, some people are too proud or don't trust the government enough to take the handout.

Mississippi Delta, gimme a break Crisi. I live in the Philadelphia area, a major east coast city. There is 1 case worker for approxiametely (sp) 125 cases. It could take a person literally months to apply and recieve food stamp benefits. MONTHS. Don't even get me started if a person gets evicted from their apartment. food stamps stop, financial assistance stops and you have to begin the entire procedure over.

Please, if I had a dollar for every kid with Asthma that takes me over 3 months to dance around the system just to get the kid a nebulizer I would be rich as the rockerfellers.

Has anybody here hung out at one of these free clinics that serve the poor? Don't think anybody on medicaid can roll up into doctors office, they cannot. Why do you think most poor use hospital emergency rooms as their primary doctors? It's not because of the coffee, that's for sure. Its becasue the clinics are understaffed, ill equiped and horrible (there are a few in Camden that are not even staffed with doctors) that they'd rather just call 911 and go to the hospital

We are so woefully inadequate in dealing with our poor it's almost criminal. I've never been to India or any other 3rd world country so I have no basis to compare it to but I'd be shocked if it was any worse.

I really think that if evey one had a chance to see the face of real poverty in America they would be shocked to find out how many holes are really in that security blanket we all love to think so easily catches our most vulnerable citizens.

 

[uk_wildcat]

The result: Families often run out of food stamps 21 days into the month.

This reminds me of a story I saw a few months ago about people going to the grocery store close to midnight on the day new benefits come out so that they could buy their food as soon as the new benefits are available for the month. They said that the sales in certain stores were spiking at those times every month. They spoke with some of people on food stamps and they also expressed that by the 3rd week, they were really stretching their food supply just to feed the family without running out.

 

[eliza61]

This reminds me of a story I saw a few months ago about people going to the grocery store close to midnight on the day new benefits come out so that they could buy their food as soon as the new benefits are available for the month. They said that the sales in certain stores were spiking at those times every month. They spoke with some of people on food stamps and they also expressed that by the 3rd week, they were really stretching their food supply just to feed the family without running out.

Wildcat, my church always knows when the 21st comes around. The line outside the door of our food pantry is at least a mile long. by the 3rd week usually the parents are usually eating every other day and the kids are down to 1 meal a day.

 

[graygables]

Why? Americans have access to free or a sliding scale healthcare, foodstamps, free housing, at least 2 meal a day for kids in school, also family planning clinics for birth control, and there are min. wage jobs in almost all towns. Why do people think they have a right to bring a child into this world if they can not support themselves 100%. I am not talking abortion. Also I am not talking about people that lost there jobs.

This is the fictional story people tell themselves to feel better about paying taxes without actually having to DO anything to improve the problems.

When I was a single mom and desperate, my car was too new for me to qualify for food or financial assistance, but I was at a point where I needed the car to get to my job 120 miles away. I couldn't downgrade b/c ex had messed up my credit so badly, I couldn't qualify for a new loan. At one point, we did finally qualify for the "healthcare", but when I took my DD to the dentist in a dirty, shabby office, they made her vomit all over herself during a procedure and then didn't clean her up, so she sat there, covered in vomit, hands cupped trying to hold as much as she could, while they did whatever it was, then shrugged me off when I came back to find her that way. She was 6 and has panic attacks at the mere thought of going to a dentist. We quickly learned that the "healthcare" was more for emergency and urgent needs rather than anything routine, unless you wanted to risk life and limb going to one of their providers.

Yes, there are basic services available to the very poorest Americans, but those who are in between fall through the cracks and have to work hard to make do without any help from anyone, unlike the whiners on this show.

 

[Zoesmama03]

I've seen a similar family at dd's school. The kids seem to have all kinds of gadgets but dress in rags practically. I happened to see the mother yesterday in a new Jeep SUV and she dresses much better than her children. Priorities!

I know about all I have I could sell is my camera or computer(which honestly is not worth anything at all) but wow they spend more on those things than I have made in and ENTIRE year in the past couple years. Its depressing what people say they can't live without. Try living on just that income.

 

[Zoesmama03]

Why? Americans have access to free or a sliding scale healthcare, foodstamps, free housing, at least 2 meal a day for kids in school, also family planning clinics for birth control, and there are min. wage jobs in almost all towns. Why do people think they have a right to bring a child into this world if they can not support themselves 100%. I am not talking abortion. Also I am not talking about people that lost there jobs.

There are min wage jobs. I have applied repeatedly to the ones in my area without any calls or callbacks. They may have them but are mostly hiring young people out of high school without higher education. I shouldn't have to lie on my resume or application that I don't have education to get a job.

People weren't always in the situations and if we waited until we knew without a doubt we'd be stable(which is never a guarantee anyhow) then nobody would ever have kids. You have some valid points but flawed and seem somewhat judgmental even if its not about people here who have lost jobs it can appear to be so.

 

[Zoesmama03]

I'm the same age, and I have to thank my grandparents for sitting me down and teaching me those things because my mom never really learned them. I think that's fairly common for the baby boomers; they're the first generation raised in disposable, go-out-and-buy-it America; our grandparents fixed their own toilets and tended gardens and canned veggies and mended clothes. Our parents went to college so they'd have enough money not to do any of those things for themselves. Now our generation is having to relearn those "old fashioned" skills to deal with the current economic situation.

This rings so true to me. You are fortunate to have grandparents that led you on the path. It does seem so much of the baby boomers are exactly like that. Mine have a shopping mentality and justify things on odd priorities at times yet both do still do most of the old fashioned things. My mom learned these things but also went to college while raising 3 of us alone with very little income somehow missed one lone class(Constitution test would have passed her ) and says she just couldn't do it because of us. I am so interested in doing these old fashioned things as well as schooling my dd on them. I feel fortunate to have been raised in a do it yourself family. We have mended our own clothing, even made them in past, fix our own appliances and cars. It has allowed us to relish in some nice belongings yet not overly valuable despite living in low poverty at times.

 

[happygirl]

I really like this show. I thought they seemed like a normal family. As for the man not taking money from his inlaws. I know my hubby would never take money from one. It's a pride thing with men. I can't wait for next week

 

[tina95]

People weren't always in the situations and if we waited until we knew without a doubt we'd be stable(which is never a guarantee anyhow) then nobody would ever have kids. You have some valid points but flawed and seem somewhat judgmental even if its not about people here who have lost jobs it can appear to be so.

I understand things happen in life. Nothing is guaranteed. My point was about people with no jobs, no education, and no plans to work toward either, having children that the tax payers support. I would have liked to have a house full of children. We had three because that is what we could afford. I would love it if our taxes went to help people who need a hand up not a hand out. I think the people who need a helping hand would like it also, if the money was not being used for generational welfare and people in this country illegally.

 

[Colleen27]

This reminds me of a story I saw a few months ago about people going to the grocery store close to midnight on the day new benefits come out so that they could buy their food as soon as the new benefits are available for the month. They said that the sales in certain stores were spiking at those times every month. They spoke with some of people on food stamps and they also expressed that by the 3rd week, they were really stretching their food supply just to feed the family without running out.

Yep. And that shopping rush is such an issue for stores in poor areas that my state is moving to spread out the distribution of food stamp benefits, because right now there is such a run on (usually small, not very well stocked to begin with) stores in poor neighborhoods during that first week of the month that the inexpensive/easy-to-stretch foods run out very quickly. Grocery stores are just too few and far between in the inner cities - not a single major chain grocery in the entire city of Detroit, for example - and the small stores that are in those areas just can't meet that demand spike adequately.

The full, maximum food stamp allotment works out to about $1.50 per person, per meal. Absolutely doable, from a middle class perspective where we take for granted access to full service grocery stores, a reasonably well equipped kitchen, and a basic level of cooking and nutritional know-how, but too many of the families living on that assistance lack one or all of those advantages.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I too was VERY taken aback by her snotty comments about her teachers salary.

The show was eye opening for me, I just watched it last night at like midnight and I had a tough time falling asleep after it.

I understand how people question them living in a nice home, but with that said it is RENTED and we don't know for how much. And if you watched the clips for the coming weeks episode, they are going to look for a smaller house. Of course they are like almost any parent who wants to maintain the home so the kids have something they can count on.

I will continue to watch....I am interested to hear what her "secret" next week is?!?!

We don't have WE....

But just wanted to chime in. Don't judge a rental by it's size. If this family is as large as claimed---they do need more space unless they were perhaps willing to lie on a rental application to squeeze in a shoebox.
Additionally---the actual rent may be much smaller than what we perceive. We moved over the summer and desparate for renters--we lowballed our rent. An occupied home costs less than a vacant one.



I really wish we had WE.

 

[flamingglobessigmund]

Originally Posted by Schachteles
I too was VERY taken aback by her snotty comments about her teachers salary.

The show was eye opening for me, I just watched it last night at like midnight and I had a tough time falling asleep after it.

I understand how people question them living in a nice home, but with that said it is RENTED and we don't know for how much. And if you watched the clips for the coming weeks episode, they are going to look for a smaller house. Of course they are like almost any parent who wants to maintain the home so the kids have something they can count on.

I will continue to watch....I am interested to hear what her "secret" next week is?!?!

We don't have WE....

But just wanted to chime in. Don't judge a rental by it's size. If this family is as large as claimed---they do need more space unless they were perhaps willing to lie on a rental application to squeeze in a shoebox.
Additionally---the actual rent may be much smaller than what we perceive. We moved over the summer and desparate for renters--we lowballed our rent. An occupied home costs less than a vacant one.



I really wish we had WE.

Their rent is $1700/month.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...110503763.html

This where I got the info.

 

[hayanyujah847]

That's what bugs me with the mother's dismissive attitude to the humiliation her daughter faced at the grocery store, when they ran out of food stamps. To me, it's the crux of the problem with this family's finances. The mother didn't know or care how much was on the card. She didn't know how much money they spent frivolously during all the months they were blending their family with cash. The father is still holding onto the fantasy he will get back to making more than $18k/month.

Now that their finances are so tight, and yet, she's still burying her head in the sand. She could call the 800# on the back of her card and find out how much was left. But she just hands the card to the kids to pick up food at the grocery store. Then she can avoid the looks and stares as she pays for food with food stamps, while wearing her expensive jewelry, and gets into her expensive car outside of the market. She doesn't have to be humiliated. She doesn't have to own up to the fact her family is living on food stamps.

This is exactly what stood out to me the most while watching this show. She doesn't pay attention to her money now just like she obviously didn't before. You've got to be kidding me! I live paycheck to paycheck and am constantly checking my card to avoid the humiliation of being denied & to just know where I stand. How could she not be keeping their food stamp money in check?

 

[MrsPete]

This is the fictional story people tell themselves to feel better about paying taxes without actually having to DO anything to improve the problems.

Nope, not always fictional. When my father abandoned us, Welfare, Food Stamps, and the Health Department did just what they were supposed to do: They helped my mom get us back on our feet. Later, I qualified for Pell Grants, which -- along with a great deal of work on my part -- enabled me to get a college degree so that I've never been back in that situation.

I've seen a similar family at dd's school. The kids seem to have all kinds of gadgets but dress in rags practically. I happened to see the mother yesterday in a new Jeep SUV and she dresses much better than her children. Priorities!

One comment on one detail: The kids' clothes may've appeared to you to be rags, but I bet the kids would disagree. I have two teenaged girls, and it's difficult to find jeans that don't have holes or other "distressed" features. Brand new jeans with holes in them can cost $50 or more.